Here are a series of essays I wrote about Dolly tied to albums at the beginning, middle and end of her vast, prolific career, if you're looking for a little themed reading. www.dontrocktheinbox.com/on-dolly-par...

On Dolly Parton, Brilliant In Every Era

Today marks an unfathomable loss: Dolly Parton has died. Brilliant artist, devoted philanthropist, remarkable human; to list her achievements here feels redundant, as the cult of Dolly has long since ...

dontrocktheinbox.com

I wrote about the end times

Hearing Things@hearingthingsco.bsky.social · 2mo ago

The dream is dead but we didn’t kill it

Proof of listening, proof of life — I just reviewed 102 recordings for THE FUTURE IS OURS TO MAKE. Read it for free / tell a friend open.substack.com/pub/thefutur...

Any number of quantum positions

THE FUTURE IS OURS TO MAKE’s quarterly review of significant recordings.

open.substack.com

Describing Olivia Rodrigo as "like a tour guide walking backwards" is why Chris remains the best. A perfect image for a thought I've had but couldn't fully express. Subscribe.

Chris Richards@chrisrichards.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Proof of listening, proof of life — I just reviewed 102 recordings for THE FUTURE IS OURS TO MAKE. Read it for free / tell a friend open.substack.com/pub/thefutur...

Really love this essay on “John Henry” from @natalieweiner.bsky.social www.dontrocktheinbox.com/on-john-henr...

On John Henry, American Epic Poem

It's a nice idea that "This Land Is Your Land" should be our national anthem, a wonderful song full of generous and idealistic sentiment that's actually easy to sing. (That the Star-Spangled Banner sh...

dontrocktheinbox.com

there is no other outlet in chicago with the institutional knowledge or wisdom of the reader, and no group of reporters who have sacrificed as much to keep their paper alive. imagine nickel and diming those folks as one of your first acts in town.

Chicago Reader Union@chicagoreaderunion.bsky.social · 3mo ago

The Chicago Reader Union has been bargaining w/ Noisy Creek since February. In that time, management has consistently offered proposals that would cut longstanding benefits in exchange for meager pay raises. We need YOU to tell Noisy Creek we deserve better! 🧵 🔗: actionnetwork.org/letters/tell...

Graham Latham (@grahamericlatham.bsky.social) profiles Montreal based experimental noise artist Amorior and discusses their DIY roots, the politics of noise music, and the ways a space can be reshaped and interpreted in the context of a musical performance. www.newfeeling.ca/bespoke-devo...

Bespoke Devotional

Montreal's Amarior invokes vengeance and forgiveness in radiant noise

newfeeling.ca

We loved the article so much, we’re republishing writer and educator Erin MacLeod’s (@touchofallright.bsky.social) excellent analysis of Saguenay rock duo Angine de Poitrine and just how Quebec-coded they really are. www.newfeeling.ca/angine-de-po...

Angine de Poitrine could only hail from la belle province

Erin MacLeod explains the Quebec context for everyone's new favourite band

newfeeling.ca

How can sound reshape the nervous system and the dance floor? Tia Julien (@tiaalandra.bsky.social) speaks with Palestinian-Canadian artist Jeena about her EP 'Light Codes,' sound therapy, and the personal journey that led to her “forever sonically protesting.” www.newfeeling.ca/light-codes-...

'Light Codes' Casts Frequencies for Healing: In Conversation with Jeena

Tia Julien chats with the Palestinian-Canadian artist about her new EP Light Codes, neuroacoustics, sound therapy, and creating music for healing.

newfeeling.ca

In his first piece for the co-op, DeForrest Brown Jr. applies the concept of 'schizophonia' (the separation of sound from its source) to streaming audio, examining how these same systems managing music consumption now fuel the dual-use “defense” economy. www.newfeeling.ca/zero-latency/

Zero Latency: On the Possibility of World Soundscapes beyond Spotifycore Sovereignty

DeForrest Brown, Jr. revisits R. Murray Schafer's theory of "schizophonia" to examine how streaming platforms like Spotify reshape listening and perception.

newfeeling.ca

🌬️💨⏩ Our 26th issue, SLIPSTREAM, is here! In his editor's note, Tom Beedham (@tombeedham.bsky.social) explores the “slipstream” as a space where artists can resist dominant forces and forge new paths for collective imagination/experimentation/change. www.newfeeling.ca/issue-26-sli...

ISSUE 26: SLIPSTREAM

Slipstreams can be avenues of momentum through which artists, scenes, and collective initiatives can transcend their regular working conditions

newfeeling.ca

a couple weeks late here but I really recommend this piece by @see-saw.fun on the Kings Road Merch Union in Minneapolis & major label union-busting (TLDR a merch warehouse was sold by Epitath to Sony, long-time workers/musicians unionized, now Sony plans to shut it down) see-saw.fun/minneapolis-...

minneapolis punks voted to unionize a merch warehouse. sony music plans to shut it down.

Kings Road employs punk artists and produces merch for some of the world’s biggest punk bands. The morning of the union’s first day of bargaining, owners Sony Music revealed plans to shutter the workp...

see-saw.fun

Wrote about the 20th anniversary of TV On The Radio's 'Return To Cookie Mountain' through the lens of a frantic moment in the rock-critic trenches.

TV On The Radio's 'Return To Cookie Mountain' Turns 20

On the cover of the Village Voice, Bob Dylan ran over Kyp Malone in a Rascal scooter. This was February 2007, and 64-year-old Dylan’s 32nd studio album Modern Times had just barely snuck past TV On Th...

stereogum.com

The Quietus Albums Of The Year So Far chart is here! But who is at number one? @normanrecords.com buff.ly/z3lSmCv

Great essay on Billy Bragg and Wilco's Woody Guthrie project Mermaid Avenue, on the occasion of their first live performance of the album together last month. By @charleshughes2.bsky.social for No Fences Review

Plays of Our Lives: Billy Bragg and Wilco - Mermaid Avenue (1998)

Charles revisits one of his favorite albums, on the occasion of its first-ever live performance

open.substack.com

I was on Jury Duty and then on vacation! Sorry for neglecting this account. I'll get back at it!

You can also read @nikostratis.com ‘s excellent essay about it: www.anxietyshark.ca/all-my-lies-...

All my lies are always wishes

I needed a pen. I’ve also been deep in a tiger pit of depression lately, and it seemed like a good idea to pit these two things against each other. Draw a cure from the blood of necessity.

anxietyshark.ca

You can watch all of the Wilco documentary on YouTube for free if you want to. It’s a really compelling look at creativity and stubbornness. Working together and sometimes not being able to. Definitely not rockstar glamour. youtu.be/-yVj3Yhw8ys?...

WILCO - I AM TRYING TO BREAK YOUR HEART

YouTube video by ROCKTALK

youtu.be

Fastball's "The Way" was once a pleasant radio melody, then it became a fond memory, and then it slowly evolved into a beautiful and idealized look at how we choose to live. Check out Niko Stratis' latest Alt-Rock Dept. essay on the 1998 rock hit: www.pastemagazine.com/music/fastba...

I interviewed the marvellous Bedouine about displacement, loss and her magnificent new MOR opus www.theguardian.com/music/2026/j...

‘You escape the slaughter. But there’s a long tail of sadness’: musician Bedouine on the strangeness of Arab life outside the Middle East

With roots in Armenia, Syria and Saudi Arabia, the singer-songwriter now lives in the US. But despite her Carole King-style sound, her homelands are never far from her mind

theguardian.com

We had to reschedule last week's Reading Group due to illness, but we've picked out a new date and hope you can make it! Registration is free and open to all. We'll send you the reading and a link to the meeting once you've registered. Hope to see you there!

I reviewed The Giant is Awkward, the new album by Victor Vieira-Branco’s Bark Culture. The thrilling hall of funhouse mirrors jazz of Bark Culture is filled with enthralling, mysterious, intelligent, disconcerting, and beautiful flourishes and ideas. aquariumdrunkard.com/2026/06/08/v...

Victor Vieira-Branco’s Bark Culture :: The Giant Is Awkward - Aquarium Drunkard

A new voice enters the conversation. Enthralling, mysterious, and beautifully disorienting, The Giant is Awkward finds Bark Culture widening its range and sharpening its identity as pianist Sam Yulsma...

aquariumdrunkard.com

RIP James Blood UImer. My obit for NPR Music.

James Blood Ulmer, avant-garde electric guitarist and singer, has died at 86

The fearless free-funk and jazz artist, a student of Ornette Coleman's Harmolodics concept, followed his unorthodox path to a singular five-decade career.

npr.org

Honored to be on this list ! ! Deepest gratitude to Of Note With so much flux in music criticism right now, I’m a writer who appreciates every reader and a reader who appreciates every writer

Of Note@ofnotemusic.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Of Note 025 is out! This is the final issue of the newsletter. It includes a list of some of my favorite subscriptions. @see-saw.fun @natalieweiner.bsky.social @marissarmoss.bsky.social @hearingthingsco.bsky.social @marcissist.bsky.social @natechinen.bsky.social @joshterry.bsky.social Cont.

Salute!

Of Note@ofnotemusic.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Of Note 025 is out! This is the final issue of the newsletter. It includes a list of some of my favorite subscriptions. @see-saw.fun @natalieweiner.bsky.social @marissarmoss.bsky.social @hearingthingsco.bsky.social @marcissist.bsky.social @natechinen.bsky.social @joshterry.bsky.social Cont.

Great review from @zachschonfeld.bsky.social "Rather than return to the hardcore of early Iceage, For Love of Grace does something better: harnessing the immediacy of those records in service of pastoral punk, swooning hooks, and a wild-eyed romantic fervor."

Iceage: For Love of Grace & the Hereafter

Read Zach Schonfeld’s review of the album.

pitchfork.com

Good morning. I reviewed the remarkable new Iceage album for @pitchfork.com. Recommended if you like: romantic anguish, Henry's Dream-era Nick Cave, screechy recorder solos, songs that rhyme "nirvana" with "Madonna."

Iceage: For Love of Grace & the Hereafter

Read Zach Schonfeld’s review of the album.

pitchfork.com

"Parker’s approach became a blueprint for generations of musicians … His ideas traveled across genres and decades, reshaping how others thought about melody, rhythm, and expression." 5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Charlie Parker (gift link):

5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Charlie Parker

nytimes.com

Here it is: No Expectations' midyear list. I wrote about 40 of my favorite albums of 2026 so far. www.noexpectations.fyi/p/the-40-bes...

The 40 Best Albums of 2026 So Far

...According to some guy in Chicago. Plus, 40 more recommended LPs, including every new full-length I wrote about in No Expectations this year.

noexpectations.fyi

I had a long, fascinating chat with Ben, Nick, and Jason from Death Cab about their return to the indie ranks, their hard-hitting new LP, coping with divorce during their anniversary tour, thinking like a superfan, being "the dads of indie rock" at festivals, why they'll never do a cruise, and more

Indie Again: A Conversation With Death Cab For Cutie

The band discusses signing to an indie label again, making their hard-hitting new album, the impact of Benjamin Gibbard's divorce, indulging fan nostalgia, and more.

stereogum.com